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Camellia problem
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Posted by pommiegardener Sydney (My Page) on Sat, Apr 23, 05 at 19:12
I am hoping someone can help me. I have just moved, and inherited a camellia 'hedge', at least, I think it was meant to be a hedge! And I think they are Camellias!
Firstly, the plants do not look like Camellias as I know them - remember I am a pommie gardener. But everyone has said that they are. They have very small leaves, quite shiny, but not typical dark green glossy. They are aprox 1.5 m tall. The flowers, and they are in flower now, are small, double or even triple petaled, looking very much like a small button rose, pink tinged, turning white. They are planted in a patio border, I suspect too close together. Of the row of 8, three squashed in ones were dead, so I have got rid of those, to give the sort of ok ones more space.
The remaining ones are not very happy, and had lots of dead wood at the bottom, so I have removed that, now they look a bit like wobbly standard roses. I have not done any pruning to the sides or tops.
My queries, what variety of camellia are they? What should I do feeding and pruning wise, to try to get them looking healthy? I do realise that camellias do not like being pruned, but I had to get rid of the dead wood - and it was dead!
Any advice would be very much appreciated, thank you. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Camellia problem
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If they are in flower now, they are probably Sasanqua camellias. They are autumn flowering, some have quite small leaves, take more sun than Camellia Japonica (which is probably the ones you are more used to) and are very popular for hedging. They are not as "formal" as the Japonica. You might be able to identify the right one on sites such as -
http://www.redlandsnursery.com.au/piclist/camelliasasanquapics.htm Burkes Backyard has information at - http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/1999/archives/25/in_the_garden/flowering_plants_and_shrubs/sasanqua_camellias Look down the page for the address of the Camellia Grove Nursery. You might like to take a flowering stem for a Sunday drive and get a positive identification. While you are waiting for spring to come (and fertiliser time) you might like to make sure the soil is moist and apply a nice layer of mulch. |
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